SVDC is the largest chapter of Single Volunteers (SV). SV is an international organization dedicated to providing a way for single people to meet other singles through volunteer activities. Single Volunteers has chapters across the United States, in Canada and Australia.

The concept behind Single Volunteers is simple, really. Our project leaders work with any interested and qualified non-profit organizations to find projects with which SVDC volunteers can help. These projects can be anything from answering phones during a telethon to building houses to staffing blood drives or stuffing envelopes. The Single Volunteers staff and project leaders work to compile a team of volunteers (as equal as possible in the number of men and women) who get together to get the project done. It's simple, really -- we're just trying to bring together available singles in a productive, positive environment.

1. You must be single. That is, you are not married, and currently not in a committed relationship. If you are unable to enter into a dating relationship at this time, you should not volunteer with us. Please see our listing of other volunteer opportunities if you are not eligible to participate with Single Volunteers.

2. You must be willing to volunteer. That is, you must be willing to give of your time and energy to help on various projects as they arise. There's no obligation to join in a project if you don't want to, but if you are not willing to volunteer for any of our projects you should not join Single Volunteers.

3. Single Volunteers is open to single persons 21 years of age and older.

1. You need to periodically check the web site, or join our mailing list to learn about upcoming projects. All projects are organized on a first come, first serve basis. That means whoever signups first gets in (keeping in mind that we try to take an equal number of men and women), and if you wait until the last minute to signup you probably won't be able to participate.

2. If you signup for an event you are expected to show up on time, bringing the necessary tools and equipment (as described by the team leader) and stay through the end of the event. If cancel your participation with less than 2 days notice, do not show up at the event, arrive late or leave early without prior permission from your team leader you will be considered a no-show and may be barred from future events.

3. You should encourage your single friends to join us. We are especially in need of single men!

The age range of our members is 21 to 60+, with most members being in their mid to late-30's. We have a significant percentage of men and women over age 40, and fewer members under age 30.

If you are particularly interested in meeting people your age please signup for one of our "age specific" events and socials. These are designated for those "20 something," "30 something," "Over 40," etc. We won't card you at the door, but we've found that members generally have more fun when they observe the age recommendations. If no age range is mentioned for an event or social than all are welcome.

For a variety of reasons, children are NOT allowed at Single Volunteers events. If you want to volunteer with your children please visit our other volunteer opportunities page to find other organizations that will gladly accept you and your children.

It is up to you to decide if you are single and able to date others. We do not ask for proof of your divorce or of your being single for that matter. We do ask that if you decide to volunteer you be honest about your status should you ask anyone out on a date or agree to date someone who asks you.

In our over 5 years of running Single Volunteers we have found that most of our members prefer to meet others their own age. As such, many of our events and socials are "age specific" -- designated for those "20 something," "30 something," "Over 40," etc. We won't card you at the door, but we've found that members generally have more fun when they observe the age recommendations. If no age range is mentioned for an event or social than all are welcome. You will find that the average age at "all ages" events is mid to late-30s. Events listed as "40 & Over" tend to draw people into their 50s and 60s.

Do you offer events for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered volunteers?

All singles are welcome at our events, regardless of their sexual orientation. However, just as we do not offer events only for single parents we also do not offer events only for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered members. If you are looking to volunteer with other GLBT people please visit Burgundy Crescent, a volunteer group speficially for GLBT individuals.

Team leaders are a special breed of volunteer who help to organize events, take signups from members and so much more! Please visit our Team Leader Information Page for more information about how you can help!

Single Volunteers of D.C. needs not only single volunteers, but also organizations that are looking for help! In order to qualify, your organization must:

1. Be willing to accept a team of no less than 10 volunteers of mixed gender for any one project. Larger group projects are encouraged and appreciated, but we can accept assignments of no less than 10 volunteers per event.

2. Be a non-profit or not-for-profit organization.

3. Have work that will allow our volunteers to interact with one another while working to complete your project.

4. Have work that needs to be done!

If your organization would like to enlist the services of Single Volunteers please use our sign up form.

Your email provider may be blocking SVDC messages. Some spam filtering software programs block email from SVDC because it perceives our multi-recipient messages as spam. If you plan to receive messages from SVDC and you have spam filtering or blocking software, please read your ISP's instructions for allowing specific addresses to come through the filter. This may involve adding SVDC email addresses to your address book or adding the domain name

SVDC has a zero tolerance for sexual harassment. Sexual harassment is defined as conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome and unwanted by the alleged victim. If you believe you are a victim of sexual harassment, notify the perpetrator that the behavior is inappropriate and unwelcome and ask him or her to immediately s. If the person persists in the behavior, report it to the Team Leader immediately and email the particulars, who, what, where, when to Feedback. SVDC will conduct an inquiry into the matter and take the appropriate corrective action.

All SVDC members must register online in order to participate in SVDC events, and receive the twice-weekly email updates.

To Register:
 Find the blue tool bar at the top of the SVDC website.
 Scroll your mouse over to Membership to see the pull-down menu.
 Select Join SVDC.
 Complete the registration form.
 Remember your user ID and password which you will need in the future to register for events.
 At the bottom of the form is a CAPTCHA, a picture of a word that only humans can read. Type the word you see in the CAPTCHA in the box below the picture. You can also hear audio of the pictured word by clicking the Audio link.
 Click Submit Form.

All SVDC members must log-in to the website to sign up for events and socials.

To Login to the SVDC.org database:
 Find the blue tool bar at the top of the SVDC website.
 Click on Login.
 Enter your email address and password.
 If you want the website to remember your user ID and password, select yes to Set Cookie. (Not recommended from a public computer, because anyone using the public computer after you could login to your SVDC account.)
 Click the Login button.

 Follow the direction to Login to the SVDC.org database
 Click the link at the bottom of the Login page.
 Enter the email address that you used to register.
 A new password will be sent to your email address.

Once logged, there is a user menu (which also has the logoff option), under
that is an option "Update your information".

On that page, a user can change the following info:
 First Name
 Last Name
 Password (there is a note on the password field advising that the password
is one-way encrypted so that no one else can view it)
 Email Address
 Mailing list subscription (yes/no)
 Gender (Should I leave this option on there???)
 Birth Month
 Birth Year
 Volunteer to be a leader (yes/no/maybe)
 Location

SVDC policy is to distribute volunteer first names and email addresses to
participants in volunteer activities, but not to participants in social
activities.

In volunteer activites (listed on the Events page of the website), a
discrete number of volunteers RSVP through the website to the team leader.
In this case it is possible to gather volunteer contact information.
Volunteers are notified as part of the conditions of membership that their
email address will be made available to others when they participate in a
volunteer activity.

Social activities (listed on the Socials page of the website) are handled
differently from volunteer activities. They involve a significantly larger
number of attendees, and often people just show up at the location and
find the SVDC group. Without an RSVP through the website, it is difficult,
if not impossible, to compile a list of attendees for later distribution.
Participants in social activities do not expect their contact information
to be broadly distributed to other attendees. In a social setting, anyone
interested in remaining contact can easily request contact information
from that individual directly.